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Home > Coronavirus > CHART OF THE DAY: Manufacturing expansion continues in November

CHART OF THE DAY: Manufacturing expansion continues in November

Dec. 1, 2020 by Jason Alexander

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U.S. manufacturing activity continued its expansion in November, according to the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index. The index registered 57.5 in November, its seventh straight month of expansion, but was 1.8 points below the 59.3 reading in October. A reading above 50 suggests expansion.

November’s reading was slightly below economists’ forecasts of 58, but panel sentiment was optimistic, with 2.5 positive comments for every cautious comment, an improvement compared to October.

The drop in the index was led by declines in the indices for new orders, production and employment, and is consistent with recent data from regional manufacturing surveys, as well as the RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index, which recently started to show cracks in the optimism of the past few months as the economy decelerates and the pandemic intensifies.

The new orders index registered 65.1, down 2.8 points from the October reading of 67.9. The production index registered 60.8, a decrease of 2.2 points compared to 63 in October. The employment index returned to contraction territory at 48.4, which was 4.8 points down from 53.2 in October, showing the continued challenges on the labor front as organizations reported challenges attracting and retaining employees.

Overall, the message remains that manufacturing activity continues to recover at a solid clip. Demand expanded, with the new orders index growing at strong levels, led by export orders rising at their fastest pace since March 2018. The customers’ inventories index, at its lowest figure since June 2010, is also considered a positive for future production.

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Filed Under: Coronavirus, Industrials Tagged With: coronavirus, Covid-19, ISM manufacturing index, RSM US Manufacturing Outlook Index

About Jason Alexander

@jaalex53

Jason assists clients in the industrial products, consumer products and financial services industries and has more than 15 years of experience serving large multinational clients with particular emphasis on SEC clients, Fortune 500 and middle market companies. Jason has previously advised clients in the areas of accounting, risk management, mergers and acquisitions, process design and improvement, internal audit, regulatory compliance, internal and external financial reporting and information technology system implementation. Strong record of accomplishment of people, team and practice development across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Jason is also on the Board of Directors of the RSM US Foundation and a member of RSM’s cutting edge Industry Eminence Program, which positions participants to understand, forecast and communicate economic, business and technology trends shaping the industries RSM serves.

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